Thiruvananthapuram, June 25 (IANS) The Padma awards ceremony this week was a celebration of national achievement. However, in Kerala, it also revived a familiar question that surfaced when the honours were announced earlier this year: what happens when one of India’s highest civilian awards comes calling for a Communist icon such as V.S. Achuthanandan?

The question has once again come into focus following the posthumous conferment of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, on the former Chief Minister, a leader whose political life was defined as much by unwavering ideological convictions as by his enduring popularity among ordinary people.

When the award was announced in January, seven months after he passed away, the reaction across Kerala was largely one of approval.

Admirers saw it as overdue recognition for a leader who, despite spending decades within the Communist movement, carved out a political identity that often transcended party lines.

The veteran leader’s family also welcomed the honour.

That, however, was where the consensus ended.

The CPI(M), while acknowledging Achuthanandan’s stature, was reportedly uncomfortable with the acceptance of the award.

Party leaders pointed to a long-standing Communist tradition of declining state honours, recalling instances where senior leaders had refused such recognitions in the past.

The development inevitably brought back memories of another awkward moment in 2022.

Former Health Minister K.K. Shailaja had been selected for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award after winning international praise for Kerala’s handling of the Covid pandemic.

The recognition was widely celebrated, but the CPI(M) decided that she should not accept the award.

As a disciplined party leader, Shailaja obliged.

The contrast has become even more striking this year.

While several distinguished personalities from Kerala, including superstar Mammootty, accepted national honours with pride, the state’s largest Left party once again found itself debating whether recognition from the establishment sat comfortably with Communist ideology.

For many observers, therein lies the paradox.

In a political landscape where individuals and institutions often compete for honours and accolades, the CPI(M) remains perhaps the rare organisation that receives an award and then finds itself explaining why it would rather not embrace it.

For admirers of V.S. Achuthanandan, the Padma Vibhushan is a tribute to a people’s leader. For the party he served all his life, it appears to be yet another ideological dilemma.

–IANS

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